Rules

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I spent much of the last slide jesting because many see the Pro Bowl as something of a joke.

Scores of players have backed out of the game in recent years due to an assortment of phantom injuries. The level of play in the game two years ago was so horrific that there was talk of abolishing it altogether.

It got better last year, but that didn't stop the calls for the Pro Bowl to be put out of its misery.

However, the NFL isn't going to get rid of a game that, for all its problems, is still a money-maker. So instead, the league decided to turn the rules upside down.

Buckle up, folks. We're headed through the looking glass.

Rosters

Each Pro Bowl team has a total of 44 players. 21 offensive players (four wide receivers, three tackles, three guards, two centers, two tight ends, three quarterbacks, three running backs and a fullback), 18 defensive players (three defensive ends, three defensive tackles, three outside linebackers, two inside linebackers, four cornerbacks and three safeties) and five special teams players (a punter, kicker, specialist, returner and "need" player, like a long snapper).

So, 88 players.

The Draft

On Tuesday, Jan. 20, a coin toss will be held between captains Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders. The winner can either have their choice of player captain groups (one offense, one defense) or the first pick in each of the two player drafts.

Yes, two drafts.

On Tuesday, the first group of 22 players will be selected (defensive tackles, guards, centers, fullbacks, punters and specialists). If necessary, players will be assigned to rosters to meet requirements. The "need" player is also an assignee.

Four of the players above will be captains and already on a team prior to the Wednesday draft.

There will be a minimum of 12 players assigned. There will be a maximum of 48 players drafted.

Once each team has two quarterbacks on its roster, they may not take a third quarterback until the last round of the draft.

At the conclusion of the draft, the team that chooses second may make one trade. Players must be the same position (e.g., wide receiver for wide receiver). This must only involve players selected beyond the fifth round. The trade may not be for a quarterback. If the team that chose second decides to make a trade, the trade is mandatory.

Given these rules, they really should have let Matt Millen pick a team.

Captains

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The 2014 Pro Bowl rosters will be selected by a pair of the greatest to ever play the game.

As he usually was during his playing days, Deion Sanders is full of confidence heading into Tuesday's draft, telling CBS Sports, “I think it is going to be a blowout. I don’t think Jerry has strategized.”

Jerry Rice, of course, disagrees, stating, “That’s not going to happen. I have a pretty good mindset of where I want to go.”

Both men have been rather coy about their strategy for the draft, but both indicated an affinity for younger players and newcomers to the game.

Said Sanders, “You want what you want. I know the guys that are going to cover. No matter what, they’re not cutting no deals.”

Rice was wary, though, adding that while he expects his team to be more balanced, Sanders "might go the opposite way and try to select some veterans.”

Rice and Sanders have the final say on picks, but they'll have help.

The four player captains are comprised of two pairs: The top vote-getter of offense and second-place finisher on defense (Drew Brees and Robert Quinn) and the top vote-getter on defense and second-place finisher on offense (J.J. Watt and Jamaal Charles).

Rounding out the "front offices" are a pair of very lucky fans who won the right to help select the teams via contests.

Say what you will about the Pro Bowl, but the league is making an effort to shake things up.

Coin Toss

The first order of business is the coin flip that will determine the captains and draft order.

Sanders lost the coin toss affording Team Rice the choice of first pick or the captains.

For Rice, the decision was an easy one.

As good as Jamaal Charles was this year for the Kansas City Chiefs, running backs are devalued in the Pro Bowl. In snatching up Drew Brees and Robert Quinn, Rice gets a two-fer: a 5,000-yard passer and a defensive end who finished 2013 with 19 sacks, which was second in the league.

So it's Brees and Quinn to Team Rice, Charles and J.J. Watt to Team Sanders.

Tuesday's Draft

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Tuesday's draft won't make or break the game, but it has its importance. It's not that the interior linemen comprising the majority of the player pool aren't all very good at what they do. The type of game played in Honolulu just isn't one that fits their skill set.

The two captains selected for each team, however, could make all the difference.

Here's a look at the selections made on Tuesday:

Team Rice

Jason Hatcher

DT

Dallas Cowboys

Marcell Dareus

DT

Buffalo Bills

Kyle Williams

DT

Buffalo Bills

Jahri Evans

OG

New Orleans Saints

Ben Grubbs

OG

New Orleans Saints

Evan Mathis

OG

Philadelphia Eagles

Ryan Kalil

C

Carolina Panthers

Nick Mangold

C

New York Jets

Mike Tolbert

FB

Carolina Panthers

Justin Bethel

ST

Arizona Cardinals

Johnny Hekker

P

St. Louis Rams

Matt Overton

LS

Indianapolis Colts

Drew Brees

QB

New Orleans Saints

Robert Quinn

DE

St. Louis Rams

Analysis

Selecting his captains first, Rice wasted no time adding Drew Brees and Robert Quinn to his roster. Brees could easily be the MVP of the game given the way defense has played in this all-star game of late.

Robert Quinn will be a problem for whichever signal-callers Sanders selects Wednesday.

Fullback Mike Tolbert was the second biggest weapon added to the team on Tuesday. The Panthers ball-carrier can be extremely effective out of the backfield.

Team Sanders

Ndamukong Suh

DT

Detroit Lions

Gerald McCoy

DT

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Dontari Poe

DT

Kansas City Chiefs

Marshal Yanda

OG

Baltimore Ravens

Logan Mankins

OG

New England Patriots

Kyle Long

OG

Chicago Bears

Mike Pouncey

C

Miami Dolphins

Alex Mack

C

Cleveland Browns

Marcel Reece

FB

Oakland Raiders

Matthew Slater

ST

New England Patriots

Brandon Fields

P

Miami Dolphins

J.J. Jansen

LS

Carolina Panthers

Jamaal Charles

RB

Kansas City Chiefs

J.J. Watt

DE

Houston Texans

Analysis

Selecting second, Sanders was able to add the league's most dynamic running back in Jamaal Charles and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, J.J. Watt.

Whichever QBs he adds on Wednesday night will be well protected with Yanda, Mankins, Long, Pouncey and Mack manning the interior line.

Special teamer Matthew Slater has been one of the league's best for a number of years.

Wednesday's Draft

On the second day of the Pro Bowl draft, a three-hour televised special will detail the picks that will win this game.

Whether it's passing the ball or stopping it, the road to victory at the Pro Bowl involves a trip to the airport.

Before we get to the picks, a few notes...

For the sake of this exercise, I attempted to approach this game with the understanding that the Pro Bowl isn't a "regular" football game. Some positions increased in value as a result, while others fell.

It's a good day to be a quarterback. Not so much a pass-rushing outside linebacker in a game where blitzes aren't allowed.

Also, the nuances of the rules can impact draft strategy. If you have only one remaining slot at a position, your next choice there will automatically reward the remaining players at that position to the other team.

An example: When Team Rice selected Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson with the 26th pick, that filled their wideout corps. Team Sanders then automatically received Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall, while also picking next.

When Sanders and Rice do this for real, they may be less wary of those occurrences, but I was leery of affording too many "freebies."

With Team Rice already having a quarterback, there was really no need for Team Sanders to take one so early. However, there also isn't a player in the pool more tailor-made to run the "Prime Time" offense than Cam Newton of the Panthers.

From there, it was defense. Sanders, as a former cornerback, will likely prioritize the secondary. That's reflected in the back-to-back picks of Darrelle Revis and Patrick Peterson. In fact, in Watt, Revis and Kuechly, Sanders may have the best individual player at each level of the defense in this year's game.

It's also not as if the offense suffered unnecessarily. The Team Sanders stable of young guns under center has plenty of options in the passing game, and DeMarco Murray joins Charles as a second tailback more than capable of hurting teams through the air.

Meanwhile, it should come as little surprise that the NFL's greatest receiver might favor the passing game, and that's the direction Team Rice took in this draft.

Whether it was Brees' teammate Jimmy Graham with their first pick, wideouts A.J. Green and Josh Gordon with the next two selections or DeSean Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald and Jason Witten later on, there are no shortage of targets for Team Rice's quarterbacks.

About those quarterbacks: They may be a bit long in the tooth, but the duo of Brees and Philip Rivers have combined to win a few shootouts in their day.

Granted, on paper at least, Team Rice doesn't appear as stout defensively. However, it's worth pointing out that safeties Jairus Byrd and Eric Berry are among the very best in the NFL at their position in coverage.

Team Rice also has a nice combination of youth and experience in the pass-rush, especially since both Robert Mathis and Terrell Suggs have experience playing with their hand down.

Conclusion

Well, if this mock was any indication, it's possible to go defense early in the Pro Bowl draft and not suffer too badly, but the impact is a little more apparent the other way around.

This isn't to say that Rice or Sanders can't load up offensively early and still field a good defense (relatively speaking), but the depth at spots like wide receiver, tight end and even quarterback is such that those positions don't need to be a priority early.

For a game with so much passing, the talent pool at cornerback is shallower. For that reason, if I had to choose a player as the individual with the most value, my vote would lie with Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Finally, those nuances I mentioned in the draft rules could add a very interesting wrinkle or two to draft night(s), or have no impact whatsoever.

It will be interesting to see how much the two GMs try to use those rules to their advantage, or Rice will exercise the trade option.

All in all, this new format for the Pro Bowl is just that—new. Right now at least, the novelty is refreshing, although that could quickly change if a botched draft leads to a blowout.

And that's the rub. None of this will matter if the game's lousy. Maybe the new format will bring a bit more effort out of the players, and the two teams will be more evenly matched than ever.

Or it will be a train wreck, and we'll be back to AFC vs. NFC in no time.